Kijiji user trying to run me out of business

Hi all, I recently I bought an old used pickup truck because sometimes I need a truck, but also I thought I could make some money doing small moves for people. You know things like, delivering an appliance, or piece of furniture someone wants to buy on Kijiji but have no way to get home. Anyway I had my ad posted in every category where it would be relevant, say couches and futons, or freezers. Really anywhere that a buyer could come across it and think oh great that's one way I could get this home once I find the one I'm looking for.

yesterday morning I get a message from somebody saying people like me ruin kijiji by spamming, so I responded with how is it spamming if everyone of them is in a different category he said he searched lawnmower and saw my ad 7 times and that he reported every one as your not supposed to post duplicate ads. It didn't make sense to me at the time that he came across 7 of my ads, but then it came to me that he was using the search bar which I never do and as most of us know that gives you any ad with the word lawnmower in it even if it was a patio set with the ad stating it was damaged by lawnmower.

Anyway. when the conversation concluded I said I would contact kijiji and see what they have to say about it. It turns out he was right and your not supposed to, even though as far as I can see the rules weren't made to stop someone from putting an ad where it will be most effective, they are there to keep people from abusing the site and posting things all over the place where they don't belong. Now when I was talking to the kijiji rep I also mentioned to them that he said he reported me.

At about 6 PM I get a text from someone who claims to need my help moving something for him, but when I get there I sent a text and no answer, and another still no answer, so I call no answer, but it goes to voice mail saying the text mail customer is not available. Then while I'm looking up text mail, as I'd never heard of it, I get a text saying "Fantastic your waste of gas was for whining to kijiji and having my friends 8 year account banned. when it was you that decided to breech policy. His large group of friends will continue to contact you for jobs and waste your time and gas." "Have a nice night." "Your welcome to contact kijiji back as fast as you did before and apologise, and ask that his ban be removed."

Now I never wanted him banned I only mentioned that said he reported the ads when I was asking whether or not he was right. I mean I can really only guess as to why he got banned. Maybe they've had trouble with him before, maybe its because he contacted me to rub my nose in it rather than just report it and move on.

It doesn't really matter I guess, all I want to know is what I should do? When I contacted kijiji they said to contact the police for harassment. My real concern isn't really the gas and time, but how do I know these guys don't message me pretending to be a buyer asking me to meet them and then I've got a real problem. And How will I know if its them when they message? Does kijiji allow you to look at any info on the people messaging you? At least then I could see if it was a new account there using to harass me and ignore it. I've looked and it doesn't seem that they do. any ways thanks for any suggestions.

Yeah I could change my number and and account, the problem is there aren't that many people doing this on kijiji, so it wouldn't be hard to find me again. And that might also be relevant. I have a suspicion that this may be about a rival competitor trying to run me out of business. I can't be sure, but it would offer another motive for why he may be doing this that isn't related to him being a psycho.

Yeah I could change my number and and account, the problem is there aren't that many people doing this on kijiji, so it wouldn't be hard to find me again. And that might also be relevant. I have a suspicion that this may be about a rival competitor trying to run me out of business. I can't be sure, but it would offer another motive for why he may be doing this that isn't related to him being a psycho.

The guy could just be a competitor and is BS'ing about having a large group of friends, etc. Just block the number and keep going. If you get another lead, speak to the person on the phone (i.e. not just via text) and ensure that it sounds legitimate before wasting your time. The guy can't have access to so many phone numbers, can he?

Have you tried reverse lookup or Googling his number to learn more about him (i.e. does he have similar ads posted on Kijiji, etc.)?

If you can afford to let things cool down then by all means, but if you need this as a source of income then I think you can continue, you just have to be a bit more diligent.

The guy could just be a competitor and is BS'ing about having a large group of friends, etc. Just block the number and keep going. If you get another lead, speak to the person on the phone (i.e. not just via text) and ensure that it sounds legitimate before wasting your time. The guy can't have access to so many phone numbers, can he?

Have you tried reverse lookup or Googling his number to learn more about him (i.e. does he have similar ads posted on Kijiji, etc.)?

If you can afford to let things cool down then by all means, but if you need this as a source of income then I think you can continue, you just have to be a bit more diligent.

The number he used was a text mail number. I know that from calling it back and having it go to voice mail. Only it said the text mail subscriber your calling is unavailable, or something like that. I googled text mail and it seems like a lot of scams are run through it and that it's some kind of text to email software, so it wouldn't do any good to try and reverse lookup ( even though I did try anyway). He may have similar ads. There aren't many on kijiji, but I can't be sure which one he is, if he's there at all. Thanks for your response.

Hey Just re-read your OP and it seems you have banned his friend on Kijiji. If that's the case, then let Kijiji know that you are getting harassment text messages from the person they banned. And ask them if they can do anything about this because it's hurting your business?

Hi all, I recently I bought an old used pickup truck because sometimes I need a truck, but also I thought I could make some money doing small moves for people. You know things like, delivering an appliance, or piece of furniture someone wants to buy on Kijiji but have no way to get home. Anyway I had my ad posted in every category where it would be relevant, say couches and futons, or freezers. Really anywhere that a buyer could come across it and think oh great that's one way I could get this home once I find the one I'm looking for.

yesterday morning I get a message from somebody saying people like me ruin kijiji by spamming, so I responded with how is it spamming if everyone of them is in a different category he said he searched lawnmower and saw my ad 7 times and that he reported every one as your not supposed to post duplicate ads. It didn't make sense to me at the time that he came across 7 of my ads, but then it came to me that he was using the search bar which I never do and as most of us know that gives you any ad with the word lawnmower in it even if it was a patio set with the ad stating it was damaged by lawnmower.

Anyway. when the conversation concluded I said I would contact kijiji and see what they have to say about it. It turns out he was right and your not supposed to, even though as far as I can see the rules weren't made to stop someone from putting an ad where it will be most effective, they are there to keep people from abusing the site and posting things all over the place where they don't belong. Now when I was talking to the kijiji rep I also mentioned to them that he said he reported me.

At about 6 PM I get a text from someone who claims to need my help moving something for him, but when I get there I sent a text and no answer, and another still no answer, so I call no answer, but it goes to voice mail saying the text mail customer is not available. Then while I'm looking up text mail, as I'd never heard of it, I get a text saying "Fantastic your waste of gas was for whining to kijiji and having my friends 8 year account banned. when it was you that decided to breech policy. His large group of friends will continue to contact you for jobs and waste your time and gas." "Have a nice night." "Your welcome to contact kijiji back as fast as you did before and apologise, and ask that his ban be removed."

Now I never wanted him banned I only mentioned that said he reported the ads when I was asking whether or not he was right. I mean I can really only guess as to why he got banned. Maybe they've had trouble with him before, maybe its because he contacted me to rub my nose in it rather than just report it and move on.

It doesn't really matter I guess, all I want to know is what I should do? When I contacted kijiji they said to contact the police for harassment. My real concern isn't really the gas and time, but how do I know these guys don't message me pretending to be a buyer asking me to meet them and then I've got a real problem. And How will I know if its them when they message? Does kijiji allow you to look at any info on the people messaging you? At least then I could see if it was a new account there using to harass me and ignore it. I've looked and it doesn't seem that they do. any ways thanks for any suggestions.

Pretty crazy.

To be fair, I hate when I see the same ad like 10+ times for the exact same service. When I was searching for apartments, 3/4s of the postings were all duplicate ads for painting services.